Insertion electrodes for energy storage

The development of new energy storage materials is a global challenge. One device addressing our sustainable energy needs is the lithium ion battery. A major theme of our research is to develop novel, facile routes to nanostructured functional materials using our expertise in solid state and wet chemical synthetic methods to provide new battery electrodes and electrolytes. Our current focus is on developing microwave synthetic approaches to materials for Li-ion and all solid state batteries, work which is funded through two EPSRC Supergen awards (EP/N001982/1 and EP/P00315X/1). One such material is the olivine structured LiFePO4 (pictured above), for which we have developed a microwave-assisted single source precursor route to. We also make use of powerful local structure tools at facilities such as Diamond Light Source, ISIS Neutron and Muon facility and the ESRF to understand the fundamental structure-function properties which underpin the behaviour in these Li-ion battery components.

Funding

Funding for our work comes from the EPSRC (EP/N001982/1, EP/K029290/1, EP/P00315X/1)and Royal Society (RG100301).

Features on our work
Muon experiments on Li+ diffusion in positive electrodes featured on ISIS website
Local structure X-ray absorption experiments on a working Li-ion battery material were featured in the Diamond Light Source annual report